Don’t get caught off guard by market crashes that can take all your money down with them. And don’t miss out on markets where you can build wealth practically overnight. Real Estate News for Investors with Kathy Fettke is the premiere source for savvy real estate investors who want the edge. Stay up-to-date on new laws, regulations, and economic events that affect real estate. Topics include: market trends, economic analysis that affects housing prices, updates on the best rental markets for investing in single-family rentals or multi-unit rentals, turn-key housing standards, the fate of the highly revered 1031 exchange and other tax law affecting investors, self-directed IRA investing and 401k changes, where rents and property values are rising or falling, flipping risks, new Dodd-Frank rules regarding private lending and financing standards, areas with job losses vs job growth, areas that are overbuilt or over-supplied versus areas with low supply and high demand, and how to avoid real estate scams. We'll bring you the latest reports from organizations like the National Association of Realtors, Realty Trac, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Rent Range, Property Radar, the Norris Group, Peter Schiff, Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Suse Orman, Bigger Pockets, Dave Ramsey and more. And we'll help you interpret the data in terms that make sense for your real estate goals, and portfolio. Grow and protect your wealth by staying on the forefront of economic data analysis, expert opinions, innovative investing strategies and profitable investment opportunities. We'll share all the top real estate news stories and the best trade secrets investors should know, so you can stay ahead of the curve and make fully informed real estate decisions. Host Kathy Fettke is Co-CEO of the Real Wealth Network, author of Retire Rich with Rentals and host of the Real Wealth Show on iTunes. She brings decades of media and real estate investing experience, offers her own viewpoints on particular topics, and taps into her network of real estate experts for real world news updates created just for investors like you. Get the real news on real estate on The Real Estate News For Investors Show!

There’s plenty of commentary on how President Trump’s tax reform proposal with affect the real estate industry. While Republicans generally commend the President for his efforts to reduce and simplify taxes, this time they may disagree.

President Trump released his long-awaited tax plan this week. The expectations of tax cuts have been part of what’s driven the stock markets to record highs over the last several months. And now we have a few more details about what the President hopes to accomplish.

The plan is more of an outline or a “wish list” since Congress will most likely hammer away at the details in a clash of opinions.

Oversupply is not a word you would use for today’s real estate market, but there is one sector that may be tipping in that direction. The demand for senior housing has been going through somewhat of a lull, but that’s not expected to last very long.

It’s no secret. Baby Boomers are finally growing up. The boomer generation runs from 1946 to 1964, with the oldest boomers hitting retirement age 6 years ago. Those boomers are now 71 years old which is not generally old enough for senior housing. But as of 2015, there were some 75 million boomers, so there’s a huge number of them heading in that direction.

It’s one of the hottest spring selling seasons ever. Home sales surged in March despite a big drop in inventory, and could even be the fastest housing market on record. Home buyers can’t be wall flowers this spring. At least not in hot sellers markets like the San Francisco Bay Area, where bidding wars are common.

Competition has been fierce in San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland. Between about 66% and 70% of all homes sold “above” their listing prices. And the Bay Area isn’t even the hottest market today.

Rental rates across the country have been climbing for years now, but new data indicates that the trend could be cooling – at least in some major hot spots around the country.

Yardi Matrix data indicates that average apartment rents in the U.S. increased by just six dollars this past March, putting the national average monthly rent at $1,312.

Apartment rents are different from single family rents, and real estate is a highly localized type of investment. Even so, this national trend can be construed as a sign that a market shift or, at least a leveling-off, could be heading our way.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says he remains committed to ending veteran homelessness despite the passing of two deadlines to do so. He recently launched a new plan to build 10,000 units of housing for the homeless, including veterans, and he has the help of a voter-approved 1/4-cent sales tax to help fund this project.

The Los Angeles Times writes that the mayor initially vowed to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015. He has made progress toward that goal, but found himself extending the deadline for last summer. And now that deadline has passed.

A federal watchdog agency says that “neglect” on the part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) could have placed an entire division of FHA lending at risk, and that could affect buyers’ ability to get down payment assistance in the future.

The Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is charged with keeping an eye on HUD. The goal of the program is not to find fault, but to spot problems in the system before major issues arise. This time, however, they could be about $16 billion too late.

The watchdog agency recently reported that HUD was not “adequately overseeing” about $16 billion in loans made to homeowners that received what the office called “questionable down payment assistance.”

If you are a real estate agent trying to sell a home, you may want to "talk green" to your clients. The National Association of Realtors says more and more clients want to hear about energy efficiency and other green features.

NAR just issued a new Sustainability report, which is the outcome of NAR's new Sustainability Program. NAR established the program as a way to "provide leadership and strategies on topics of sustainability" for its members and consumers.

A few months ago, in February, NAR surveyed its members about these sustainability issues. The results show a substantial "greening" of the industry, although it's still somewhat slow to catch on.

The pot-growing industry is expanding into warehouse operations at a rapid rate creating a whole new kind of high-paying tenant – and an unusual set of risks for stakeholders. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry that is taking off like wildfire and creating a lucrative niche for real estate investors growers, property owners, and investors.

Cannabis research and investment firm ArcView says that legal sales of pot grew 34% last year to $6.7 billion. It expects the industry to hit $22.6 billion by 2021, just four years from now.

A California assemblyman is take steps to protect California children from lead poisoning. In response to reports about higher rates of lead poisoning among children in certain parts of the state, Assemblyman Bill Quirk of Hayward introduced a bill that would require lead testing for all young children.

In 2012, more than 650,000 California children under the age of 21 were tested for lead, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. About 2% of those children or 16,000 kids had lead levels in their blood considered potentially unsafe. Lead poisoning could lead to increased risk for heart and kidney damage, future reproductive problems, and brain and nerve damage.

Children under the age of 6 showed particularly high rates of lead exposure in certain parts of California. Certain neighborhoods in the Fresno and Alameda areas actually tested worse than Flint, Michigan, where lead contaminated the public drinking water for years.

Before you hit “share,” “forward,” or “reply to all,” look a little closer at that email you are about to send. There’s a chance that somewhere lurking below the surface, there could be a threat to your cybersecurity.

When the National Association of Realtors announced it may have been a victim of a possible “phishing” scam earlier this month, it became clear just how attractive we are as real estate professionals to cybercriminals.

As flood insurance premiums creep higher, the Federal program that provides flood insurance to 5 million policyholders is about to expire. If Congress doesn't take action to reform and reauthorize a program that is $24 billion dollars in debt, the housing market may suddenly find itself in deep water.

The increase in flood insurance premiums is bad enough. They are going up about 6% a year according to FEMA. The average premium is $878 not including whatever surcharges may apply. FEMA says high-risk properties, second homes, and properties with previous flood claims could see bigger increases.

FEMA has been gradually raising rates as part of a previous reauthorization of the program five years ago. Those rates were adopted to help bring the cost of reimbursement closer to the cost of flood damage, but are far from enough to get the program out of debt.

Spring showers may bring May flowers to your landscaping, but they also bring homeowners hoping to sell their property something even better: bidding wars! This spring promises to be no different. Industry experts are lining up to predict which housing markets are going to be hot long before summer.

With falling home inventories, improving jobs markets, increasing consumer confidence, and looming rising mortgage interest rates, more and more sellers are seeing multiple offers on their homes. The question is: how should this affect your real estate investing strategy?

Property owners who have added energy-efficient upgrades to their properties could be cashing in on more than utility-savings. Certain states will soon be factoring in energy efficiency scoring on appraisals.

Environmental advocates and the federal government have been urging homeowners for years to make energy-efficient upgrades to their properties. However, the cost savings were not formally included as part of the value of the home on an appraisal, until recently.

The Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) succeeded in working with the Appraisal Institute to develop a standardized Home Energy Rating System that would be included on appraisal forms in certain states.

Some former Trump University students claim they didn't get the real estate education they were promised, and recently received some of their tuition money back. A San Diego judge approved a $25 million dollar settlement for a class-action lawsuit that taught students a different lesson... about understanding what you are paying for.

President Donald Trump had vowed to take the case to trial, but agreed to the settlement right after he was elected. He said he didn't have time for a trial with his new job, and admitted no wrongdoing under the terms of the settlement.

Retiring Baby Boomers are enjoying a big boost in home equity. That could help pay for their retirement, but a new survey shows there's a surprising lack of understanding about home equity products, like reverse mortgages, among both seniors and their financial advisors.

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association says these seniors saw an increase of 2.8% in their home equity during the fourth quarter of 2016. That's an additional $170.7 billion dollars of a whopping $6.2 trillion worth of senior home equity.

If you're building out your real estate portfolio as a hedge against the next recession, you may want to think "student housing". A new report says a record number of Millennials are pursuing college and will likely continue straight through any downturn.

Researchers found that enrollment is up among Millennials for both college and post-graduate degrees. And with cash-strapped colleges and universities unable to build more dorms, there's a huge demand for near-campus housing.

The new "sharing economy" may create some tax confusion this year. People who are new to the world of Airbnb, Uber, WeWork and other web-based data-driven payment portals may find taxes have suddenly grown quite complicated.

The IRS launched its new Sharing Economy Tax Center last August but it's probably getting more attention now that tax time is just a few weeks away. The webpage offers information about a variety of issues including "rules for home rentals", "depreciation", "business expenses", and "determining whether individuals providing services are employees or independent contractors."

Lenders are once again pushing short-term adjustable rate mortgages, called ARMs, and homebuyers seem to be snapping them up. Does this mean we’re headed for another round of easy and dangerous lending practices?

According to CNBC, more people applied for ARMs last month than they have since October 2014. Mike Fratantoni, the Mortgage Brokers Association’s chief economist, explained the trend this way: “Homebuyers in a strong housing market are looking for ways to extend their purchasing power, and ARMs are one way to do that.”

That basically means that with home prices and interest rates rising, borrowers are having a harder time qualifying for homes. Short term, adjustable loans loans tend to offer lower interest rates than 30 years fixed mortgages, allowing homebuyers to qualify for more.

Investors in single-family rental properties are raking in high returns in a certain geographic area of the Southeast. According to the first-quarter numbers from ATTOM Data Solutions, Clayton, Georgia, is still topping the list for highest ROI in the country. What’s going on down South, and where else are investors reaping big profits this year?

Last week, ATTOM Data Solutions, which is formerly RealtyTrac, released its first-quarter 2017 Single Family Rental Market report. The data giant analyzed returns on single-family rentals in a total of 375 U.S. counties and more than 6,000 zip codes.

Would you buy solar panels from an electric carmaker? That's what Tesla is hoping with a whole new concept in rooftop solar. The solar cells are built right into the rooftop shingles or tiles so your roof will both look good, and produce electricity.

Tesla's Elon Musk tweeted on Friday, March 24th, that the company will begin taking orders for its new solar roof tiles next month. There's a video on the Tesla website of Musk unveiling the new solar roof in a presentation last year.

It's buyer beware when it comes to flipped homes. Those like-new renovated homes could have hidden unaddressed issues that will not come up on your typical home inspection report. So how do you protect yourself as a buyer or real estate investor?

CNBC wrote in a recent article that “those picture-perfect flipped homes can be masked money pits." While some experienced renovators and talented newcomers are doing exceptional work, there are many unqualified and possibly unscrupulous flippers out there.

A flipped home is one that has been sold at least twice in a year -- usually with upgrades. It's been such a hot activity in recent years Trulia says that more than six percent of all homes sales last year were flips.